Abstract
We examine the relaxion mechanism in string theory. An essential feature is that an axion winds over N ≫ 1 fundamental periods. In string theory realizations via axion monodromy, this winding number corresponds to a physical charge carried by branes or fluxes. We show that — in the context of NS5-brane axion monodromy — this charge backreacts on the compact space, ruining the structure of the relaxion action. In particular, the barriers generated by strong gauge dynamics have height ∝ e−N , so the relaxion does not stop when the Higgs acquires a vev. Backreaction of monodromy charge can therefore spoil the relaxion mechanism. We comment on the limitations of technical naturalness arguments in this context.
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McAllister, L., Schwaller, P., Servant, G. et al. Runaway relaxion monodromy. J. High Energ. Phys. 2018, 124 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2018)124
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2018)124